*OFFICIAL* Alienware Area-51M R2 Owner's Lounge

10900K pump out near 50w more than the 10700K in multithreaded load. Or near 100W higher than 9900K who already sit in Area-51m.

https://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/intel_core_i7_10700k_processor_review,5.html

 

That's why on my desktop I had to delid it.
Moving from the 9900k to the 10900k

 

Plus your desktop CPU is either water cooled or has a 3 pound air cooler on it

 

Custom watercooling .....
When I did my first cinebenchr20 and I saw these 10 cores throttling and the tdp over 250 watts I was like what the **** ...
I had to recheck several times that I hadn't done anything wrong because it was hard to believe with a custom watercooling and two big 360 radiators.
After delid and copper ihs it was a relief to see the cpu not going over 70ish anymore while benchmarking

 

As I said from the beginning when I saw the temp results... 10700K running Aida64 FPU won't be easier to cool than 10900K running CBR20 in Area-51m R2 From previous pict we saw 100C with 160w Package power in Aida64. You said it was unrealistic load Both 10700 and 10900K use Intels sTIM.

 

Well unrealistic as in, gaming this load will never happen right ?
But for people buying the laptop for other purposes I am already afraid

 

More cores means people spend some of the cores for streaming and other tasks in the background simultaneously when they game. This is todays reality. And one of the reason we see more and more cores. More tasks at same time = Higher heat as long you don't cap the power limits.

 

You think clevo's laptops will perform any better ? Since they seemed to have less issues with thermals than dell
I think we all know that if we have troubles cooling these CPUs on s desktop it is going be very hard for those making this kind of laptops to do better at cooling these CPUs .
And even their ' vapor chamber' is not enough of a innovation to make a dif

 

At least the hardware don't burn up as in the Area-51m. They don't have same design. I don't talk about the aesthetic design. More the Hardware wise.

Area 51m doesnt turn on at all.

Alienware 51m won't turn on after power outage. Help!

 

Well, it's either that someone has a use case for 10 cores, in which case they are going to find out what $5k of Dell's laptop cooling solution is worth in practice when cooling a 125-300W CPU (alternatively the CPU will be power-limited) or they are pure gamers in which case they forked out a lot of money for a CPU they really don't need.

 

Yes I agree with you, I have been very happy with my area 51 m 9900k because right from the beginning I knew there were issues with the temps so I did right away delid repasting and fujipoly pads .
I can understand people's frustration, who would want to open a 4000 euros computer and do a job that should be dell's.

 

For pure gaming a 10600 will do more than enough. With a lot lesser heat output.

 

Keyboard r2 on the left r1 on right

 

I'm not so thrilled about this new keyboard but I guess I'll have to try it out first before bearing judgement aha

 

This could prove to be Dell's shortest-lived laptop product refresh on record:

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Nvidi...red-to-already-be-in-production.480835.0.html

Not that I have any hope that they reverse stupid design decisions and add a MUX switch in the next iteration.

 

This looks like the step down from keyboard quality between alienware 15 and m15 R1. It was a concern but the cheaper keyboard is serviceable. Funny enough, they brought improved keyboard back in m15 R2, but dumbed it down again in 51M R2

Those guys must be smoking a lot of the good stuff they get down there in FL.

 

The mobile parts aren't supposed to be out until jan/feb next year so I doubt we'll see a refresh announced until around april/may time.

 

So that time around Dell will wait a quarter after the chips are available just to avoid hurting the feelings of fresh R2 owners, when they are usually among the first to push out refreshed models? Or you could be wrong, and R3 will be available in 6 months from now Dell actually pulled a similar number on the m15. I think it was like 2-3 months in that case. They are merciless when it comes to cashing in on forcing upgrades to new components ASAP Why do you think they broke DGFF compatibility?

 

Me too, some people are saying it has less key travel. If anything, I would've liked more key travel not less

But trust me, after having had lived with the Clevo Keyboard (they put freakin' 15 inch keyboards on their 17 inch laptops because they can't be bothered), anything feels good

 

What made you move from clevo to the area 51 m just out of curiosity?

Anyway I had in mind to use it as my main computer since I'm selling my desktop wich means I'll most likely plug a keyboard so that won't matter too much

 

Err, when I look at the current Clevo competitor, it doesn't look like it has a 15 inch keyboard lol

https://www.xmg.gg/en/xmg-ultra-17



However, it does seem like they moved to chiclet too as the 9th gen version had a better keyboard:

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Schen...0-Clevo-P775TM1-G-Laptop-Review.413126.0.html

BTW this XMG 17 Ultra is actually 300g lighter than m15 despite packing more hardware (RAM, most predominantly) - not sure if this is a good or bad thing though

 

Haven't seen any recent model but this IS a 15 inch keyboard, look at the wasted space on the left and right of the keyboard, even in the pic you posted:



Alienware Keyboard:



MSI GT75 keyboard:

 

That keyboard comment doesn't seem justified w.r.t. to the 51M competitor, at least judging by the previous model.
As for drivers, I found that strange too, but isn't this down to a particular reseller to provide drivers and support?
XMG support page for the Ultra 17 looks reasonable;

https://download.schenker-tech.de/package/xmg-ultra-17-xul17e19/

 

OK, the XMG keyboard looks a bit narrower, OTOH the 51M looks larger than it actually is because it has those worse than useless Alien keys on the left. In fact I hated those on the 15 since I would constantly end up pressing them by accident.

The XMG Ultra 17 i9 keyboard looks OK and is rated highly by notebookcheck. the 10th gen refresh is chiclet therefore suspect, but the same can be said about 51M R2.

 

Not all resellers do that, only Sager and XMG. XMG is better than Sager as they do offer newer drivers but I often find that the drivers on the Clevo site are updated more often albeit with super slow download speeds and a disorganized mess.

 

Oh i'm under no illusions they will refresh when they want to but we will see.

 

Right, Clevo support page for X170 is empty

https://www.clevo.com.tw/clevo_down.asp?lang=en

and Sager doesn't seem to offer the X170. So I guess NA customers don't have a good alternative yet.

I for one wish Dell competitors all the best - the last thing we need is a monopoly, with the monopolist feeling they can dumb products down and rip customers off with impunity.

 

From what I have seen... Area-51m R2 Keyboard ain't bigger

Where have you been since Dell started push out TRIPOD? And who complain about old drivers packed into new glossy date? And what with new secure Nvidia drivers? The list will go long, brother.


Btw. Some reading about QC and quality problems. And where was you when we saw 980m paired with 180w psu and hybrid battery boost bios? 799MHz was a known problem (as well with +240w psu). One of many... http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...tles-to-0-78-ghz-xtu-says-thermal-but.801219/

And todays... http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-owners-lounge.826831/page-2265#post-11031593

https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware/17-R5-some-keys-not-working-3/td-p/7642327

 

Apparently you cannot undervolt anymore from the command center ?

You should still be able to do it through other softwares right ?

 

Check out Throttlestop. A bit more low level, but very light and powerful, unlike Cancer Center.

 

My wife had one of these tripod design laptops and it's been the biggest bag of we've ever purchased. Constant throttling and basically unusable for gaming unless the framerate is capped at 30fps.

It's got less than console performance for 5 times the price.

 

Looks like you cannot even downclock or anything the cpu ...

Read that wrong the new owner has a 10700 non k that is why he cannot change anything

 

Alienware Cancer Center is a piece of garbage, but the problem might be a corrupted installation. Did you unblock the file before installing it? Windoze 10 is trash in its own ways, with frequent problems and permissions glitches that are caused in the name of security.

You'll get better results than anything else using ThrottleStop for the CPU and MSI Afterburner for the GPU undervolting.



https://www.notebookcheck.net/ThrottleStop-Primer.213140.0.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/the-throttlestop-guide.531329/

 

https://www.3dmark.com/spy/12924828
https://www.3dmark.com/spy/12925045

Good CPU Scores, Good GPU temps. Seems the CPU/GPU Cooling Vapor Chamber is very good despite the cancer firmware.

 

In so few words... is the R2 "worth it"?

I'm feeling the hardware is up there, but the forced BIOS and software seem to cripple it alot?

 

You got yours ?

 

12000 score is nice , 15% more than overclocked R1, this is for vapor chamber.

I say its a nice upgrade since you can get future intel CPU and possible upgradable GPU

 

If these scores are achieved even with the "power optimized" firmware, I´m not so sure the X170SM-G will beat this -- of course both in an out of the box state. There may be however heavily (Prema) optimised and modified Clevos beating this.

Looking at the Clevo heatsink with the cpu serially connected behind the gpu I am not very optimistic regarding thermals.

The Clevo has still the advantage of an x16 gpu bus connection compared to the x8 of the R2, which should be an advantage especially when combined with the 300Hz panel and an high fps game.

It get´s interesting.

 

What upgrade paths?

Why shouldn’t X170 beat 3 years old laptop design with 8 cores and last years 2080?

vs. old P870
https://www.3dmark.com/compare/spy/12882215/spy/10894529

 

Yes, I think the performance of the Clevo X170SM-G is probably going to stomp the Area 51m R2 the same as what has been true over the past 6 or 7 product generations. Plus, the Clevo will probably be a more reliable product with fewer problems and defects as that has been the case for a very long time. The Alienware will probably win only on the chassis material construction, which has likewise been the case for as long as Alienware has existed. Some things never change, even when they can and should.

 

I don´t have the feeling the X170SM-Gs cooling design will be as efficient as the different iterations of the P870 models, so it remains to be seen if it will beat a P870 equipped with a 10th gen and a 2080 super.

And regarding the (of course subjective) looks of the X170SM-G, I hate to say that to my eye it still is a 3 year old design

 

Good question
If we compare both competitors at their best configurations in stock :

Cooling: Clevo Unified Heatsink w/central Vapor Chamber vs Alienware huge and covered Vapor Chamber (alienware wins¹)
CPU: both LGA1200 up to Core i9-10900K (tie on best config; clevo supports full 10th gen lineup)
GPU: Clevo up to @200W MXM 2080S vs AW up to @200W DGFF.2 2080S (tie? clevo wins; chance of upgrability)
Display: both FHD 300Hz/240Hz/144Hz screens and UHD 144Hz/60Hz options (tie; DIY or resseler)
Memory Slot: Clevo 4SODIMMS vs Alienware 2SODIMMS (clevo wins)
Memory Speed: Clevo DDR4-3200 JEDEC and up to 128GB vs Alienware DDR4-3200 "XMP" and up to 32GB (clevo wins)
Design: both looks good, matter of taste. (personally i think alienware wins)
Audio: both are big boys, but clevo made something special this time. (clevo wins)
both has good features like fingerprint reader, tobii, graphics amplifier
¹based on furmark and 3DMark, difference up to 6c. difference should be lower using Thermal Grizzly compounds and good Thermal Pads.

So, about your question, they can compete with each other very well in certain aspects. I can see a very close bench battle.

But if a fully unlocked @Prema BIOS arrives, X170sm-g will definitely have a bigger advantange that will be game changing for upgrability and memory for example.

 

I take a reliable machine over design any day. Apple is also design but probably with less problems than anything from Dell. Not that I want an Apple Book And I prefer not be pushed into unwanted firmware the whole time or have to use the OEMs software to be able to tweak my machines.

Area-51m R2

51m r2 arrived!

Btw. Looks like Lunar white is still a problem... https://www.reddit.com/r/Alienware/...ved/fxd1vnj?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x

 

How can you tell? the laptop has barely been out

 

I agree. But, I also have to admit that I think both of them are ugly-looking laptops. Before it was released and all of the defects the Area 51m has were discovered I disliked it based on its appearance. It's just not attractive looking to me at all, and neither is the X170SM-G.

I think the P870 has more stylish looks than either of them have. The only thing less attractive to me about the P870 is the wide bezel on the LCD.

 

Atm there are no profound reviews out, so one can only speculate that the Clevo will be more reliable. Probably it will be, so that´s a fair point. However, afaik it has not been confirmed if there will be a Prema bios for the Clevo.

Regarding unwanted firmwares you can disable automatic firmware updates in bios, at least with the R1 and I guess this will be the same with the R2. There might be some poor users not disabling this in the bios though. But this point doesn´t apply to the vast majority of the well informed forum members in here, so in my eyes it´s rather irrelevant. I did not get once an unwanted firmware on my R1 in over a year. Also, I have no reliability problems whatsoever with a 200W vbios and everything maxed. However, I use a delidded cpu with copper IHS and liquid metal and have a newer board revision as well as a VRM heatsink on the GPU. So to get the R1 stable running and maxing it out takes some work. Maybe this will be also the case with the R2, we will see.

 

We will see. White isn't easy to fix. But this is a beginning Lipstick on a pig

Could be that I know something about this

 

Have you not any trust with the new magical coating?

 

Did Dell fix the TRIPOD mess from R4 to R5? Again. It was just Lipstick on a pig

Maybe. I say maybe it will last a bit longer vs. R1. But it will be Yellowish

Edit. For Spartan. 300hz display explained from 13:47


As well regarding heatsink quality... Since you mentioned it (brought it up) in previous post http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...r3-owners-lounge.833030/page-13#post-11031680

“It appears alienware didn't bother engineering a properly fitting heatsink and just gloobbed on a ton of TIM to make up the gap”